Safety-catch for jewelry.



L. E. LADD.

SAFETY CATCH FOR JEWELRY.

APPLICATION FILED 5.23.23, 1910.

982,372, Patented Jan. 24, 1911.

WITNESSES: I iNVENTOR g ajim v 98m run NORRI! PITIR: cm, wunmu au. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS E. LADD, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

-SAlilE'lY-CATCH FOR JEWELRY.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS E. LADI), a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Catches for Jewelry; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will onable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a safety hook for the pins of ewclry and the like, which safety hook has a locking piece to form a closure for the open portion of the hook, this locking piece swinging in the shank of the hook and having a nose to project or be withdrawn from the open portion of the hook by the manipulation of a finger-piece, which finger-piece projects through a slot in the back of the hook. This safety catch locks the locking piece in its closed position, with the nose across the open portion of the hook, by the finger-piece having its lever locked in a socket at the end of the slot in the back of the hook, whereby it is held tight enough to prevent its accidental opening, but. yields to manual pressure or manipulation to force the lever in or out of the socket by squeezing it between protuberances on the sides of the slot adjacent to the socket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety catch in which the locking lever swings on studs which project inwardly toward each other from two side pieces that form the shank of the hook portion, these studs being arranged to abut or nearly abut within the perforation in an eye on the end of the locking piece whereby the locking piece is held in pivotal relation on the shank, but there is no projecting rivet to become loosened and to fall out, and the locking piece is thereby held securely against loss, since the members forming the shank are held against being forced apart by the fact that they are secured to the body portion of the piece of jewelry to which the pin is secured.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a back view of a piece of jewelry showing the relation of the catch Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J {UL 241, 1911. Application filed April 23, 1910.

Serial No. 557,136.

to the pin. Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a face view of one 1 piece removed, and Fig. 6 is a view of the locking piece.

The safety catch is adapted to cooperate with a pin 10, of the usual form, which swings in a bearing 11 on the body portion 12 of any ordinary form of jewelry, the pin 10 having its pointed end arranged to swing under the hook and to be locked therein by the mechanism to be described hereinafter.

The clasp consists of two members 13 and 14 which form a slot 15 between them, which members form the shank of the hook and merge into the hook portion 16, the book being bent around far enough to clasp the pin and leave an opening 17 as an entrance for the pin. The members 13 and 14 are provided with studs 18, these studs being opposed to each other and projecting inwardly and abutting, or having their ends adjacent, and when the members are forced together in the manufacture of the pin these studs form a bearing for the eye 19 of the locking piece 20 which has a nose 20, which nose is adapted to be forced inward to form a closure for the opening 17, as in Fig. 2, or swung back to open the catch as shown in Fig. 4.

The finger-piece is operated by a lever 21 which terminates in a finger-piece 22, the

lever and the finger-piece being formed so as to register with the contour of the back of the book, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to make a neat finish when the locking piece is forced to its locked position. The locking piece, as shown in the position in Fig. 1, permits the entrance of the pin 10 to the hook, and when it is to be locked the finger-piece and the lever are pushed toward the hook and the sides 23 of the lever 21 are forced past protuberances or humps 2 1 which slightly contract the slot 15 adjacent to the socket 25 which forms the end of the slot and acts as a seat for the lever 21 after it has passed the protuberances.

WVhen the finger-piece or the lever is being forced shut the strain is on the sides of the lever, and the lever snaps into its socket and is locked against accidental misplacemont or movement and is securely held in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When the locking piece is to be opened the fingerpiece is pulled back and the lever is again forced past the protuberances 24: and is then free to be swung entirely back to the position shown in Fig. 4, to either receive or permit the removal of the pin 10. The lever 21, at the point where it continually en gages the protuberances 24 when it is'be ing operated, is made fairly light on its edges and has a strengthening rib 26 so as to prevent undue flexing or bending of the lever.

It will be understood that other constructions can'be evolved for causing the frictional engagement of the sides of the lever and the sides of the slot in the hook to prevent accidental movement of the lever in the slot, but I prefer to use the construction shown with the protuberances on the sides of the slot adapted to be engaged by the sides of the lever. The members forming the shank are secured to the body portion ofthe pin in the manner usually employed by jewelers, preferably by soldering, and the members are thus held from being spread or separated, and the studs 18 are held within the eye 19 and there is no danger of the locking piece becoming disengaged from the shank of the hook portion, ilIld there is no rivet to become loosened and ost.

-Having thus described my invention, what 7 I claim is jec'ting from the opposite 1. A safety catch consisting of a shank and a hook, the shank and the hook having a slot therein, the shank having studs prosides of the slot toward each other to form a bearing, a look ing piece having a perforated eye swinging on the studs, a nose on the locking piece adapted to be swung to open or close the opening in the hook, a lever on the locking piece projecting through the slot in the back of the hook, and coacting means on the walls of the slot in the hook and thelever for looking the lever in its closed position;

2. A safety catchcomprising two "members forming a shank with a slot between them, the members merging into a hook, the hook having a continuation of the slot, the members each having -a stud, the studs being arranged in line and projecting toward each other across the slot to form a bearing, a locking piece having a perforated eye to swing on the studs, a nose on the locking piece, and a lever projecting from the locking piece through the slot in the hook, the hook having a contracted portion to tightly engage the lever, the slot being formed into a socket beyond the contracted portion, the contracted portion being adapted to lock the lever in the socket against accidental movement.

3. A safety catch comprising a shank having a hook arranged on the top thereof, the hook having a slot in its back, a locking piece arranged to swing in the shank, a nose on. the locking piece adapted to be swung to open or close the opening in the hook, and a lever projecting from the locking piece through the slot in the hook, the lever terminating in a finger piece, the side walls of the slot and the side edges of the lever be ing constructed to co-act to hold the lever in its closed position.

In testimony,that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of April 1910.

1 LOUIS E. LADD. Witnesses: v

M. H. OAMFIELD, E. A. PELL. 

